MY sales are better than YOUR sales!

If you’re into entertainment, the United States is a great place to be. Finding it is simple enough: drive into a city, walk into any media emporium, and find movies and music from all over the world. If that’s not enough, there are thousands of games to choose from too, created by developers from numerous countries and released across a bevy of platforms. These booming industries are a shining example of our materialistic, consumer-oriented world, which means a lot of money is involved, and no one will make peaceful concessions about who’s making the most.

Take the recently released annual report from the EMA group, which states that the total sales of games, consoles, and accessories were higher than the sales for DVD movies. If you take away the hardware portion of things, DVDs take the top spot with a lead of around $7 billion. However, these numbers don’t include used game sales. 49% of GameStop’s first quarter profits came from pre-owned titles, derived from a $415 million gross. That’s only one quarter’s sales, and it doesn’t include what people picked up on eBay or at their local Blockbuster.

The industry tends to ignore used sales because that doesn’t put any money in the pockets of developers and publishers. Nonetheless, millions of consumers buy pre-owned product, both in game and movie form, although GameStop is forever broadening its used sales scope while retail movie chains are narrowing theirs. To compensate for this cutthroat competition, more new games are being released at bargain prices, and both markets are pushing to increase digital distribution sales. Despite their best efforts, a meager $5 savings is enough to persuade people into purchasing used.

We’ve all heard people say that games would have already won this war if they cost $19.99 when first released. That doesn’t account for movie theater ticket sales, but DVDs have been outselling those for years anyway. It’s taking the biggest share of the market — the home spender — into consideration, and it’s easy to believe games would’ve sold to the tune of billions more if they were that cheap. To get them there, however, developers and publishers would have to function with smaller budgets and less manpower, and their costs are only rising. They work hard only to be stabbed in the back by dipping retail prices and rising pre-owned sales.

Undoubtedly, more developers will collapse under the pressure. Budgeting challenges won’t go away, and the cheaper and unstoppable “casual industry” could overwhelm the entire market to become the true rival for DVDs. The fight for the biggest numbers overall could prove exciting for price-conscious consumers, and may be rougher on the creators of their beloved products. No one can predict what will result, and everyone hopes it isn’t going to be an endless stream of EA-branded clone games, but surely, this battle between the two entertainment industries will rage on for a long, long while.

Giving a low score to the featured game is now a firing offense.

Jeff Gerstmann, Gamespot's former Editor in Chief, is job-hunting after writing an unfavorable review of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men.  He gave it a 6.0 and that didn't sit well with Eidos, who have plastered the site with banners saying what a wonderful game they've published.  Eidos whined to CNet, who owns Gamespot, who employ Jeff Gerstmann.  What does 11 years of service (he started at Gamespot in October 1996) get you if you say mean things about the big advertisers' games?  A pink slip, apparently.

I wish it wasn't this blatant, that there were mitigating factors to his removal, but at this point it's a very cut and dried case of a publicist complaining to the parent corporation, who promptly fire the offending employee's ass for doing the job they assigned to him.  Gamespot is running damage control as best they can, shutting down threads as fast as they pop up, but something as ham-handed and pathetic as this is the stuff of internet flamewar dreams.  There's a good guy (Jeff Gerstmann), a bad guy (CNet), and a huge load of spectators with a very loud voice.

The headline to this article would be cheap, incendiary tabloid crap on any other story.  Here, it's a simple statement of fact.  I didn't have anything against CNet or Gamespot before (that other article was just poking fun), but now I can't imagine any reason I'd bother with them.  The Gamespot editors are being dealt a bad hand, as evidenced by this post (third one down at the time of this writing) in their forums-

"People, don't direct your anger at Gamespot. This is CNet's meddling. Gamespot consists just of the editorial, news, community, and development teams. It's CNet's marketing that puts the ads up. CNet's marketing that complained. CNet is who can fire their EIC."

But that still doesn't change the fact that this taints the entire site.  Gaming journalism is already filled with enough dodgy crap soiling its reputation, we really don't need events like this making it even more obvious how little integrity has to do with anything that might generate ad revenue for the big sites.  I'm not asking for lily-white ivory tower purity, just a little hint that maybe they're there for something more than being a big advertising outlet for whatever product is being spewed forth from the industry's gaping maw.

This blog article should be recognized as the sole opinion of the editor and does not necessarily reflect GotNext's official position on the subject.

Apparently, doing a halfway-decent cover version is grounds for a cheap money-grab.

The Romantics licensed their song "What I Like About You" for a cover version in Guitar Hero Rocks the 80's, but apparently something went wrong somewhere along the way.  Wavegroup Sound, who have made all the cover versions of the songs in the Guitar Hero series, did their usual job of mimicking the sound of the original, and The Romantics feel that it "has infringed the group's right to its own image and likeness."

There's no issue here about whether or not Activision and Wavegroup Sound, both named in the lawsuit, acquired proper licensing for performing the cover version.  The paperwork is there and signed, and the respective companies were perfectly within their rights to include the song they paid for in the game.  At issue is how close the Wavegroup Sound version is to the original.  No, I don't get it either, but maybe this quote from The Romantics's attorney Troy Horton in the USA Today article can clear things up-  "We're all for good commerce. We just want to share in it."

I already managed to get Microsoft's HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 over an offer I couldn't refuse, and have been enjoying Batman Begins, King Kong, and especially Planet Earth all in their high definition glory with a sharpness and clarity that makes DVD seem like some old VHS copy taped off of UHF.

Not everyone has been convinced it's worth the additional expense, however, which is why Toshiba has temped new buyers by lowering the prices of their standalone players.  Now Microsoft has fallen in line, reducing the price of the add-on to $179.  If that wasn't enough, buy the add-on within the next month, and you'll get your (somewhat limited) pick of five free HD-DVD movies, which just happens to include the greatest movie of all time, Casablanca, in an absolutely stunning transfer that's worth the price of the drive alone.

To drive the spear of temptation right through your heart,  Microsoft are also working hard to promote the upcoming HD-DVD releases of the 300 and Heroes Season 1 with exclusive content on the Xbox Live Marketplace.  300 in HD will be showing up in their on demand service come August 14th, while soon XBL subscribers will be able to download the pilot episode of Heroes for free.

"With the price reduction to $179, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player continues to be the most affordable way to enjoy high definition," said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of Global Marketing, Interactive Entertainment Business, Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. "From the beginning, we set out to offer Xbox 360 owners an unrivaled high-definition experience, with a choice of optical discs on the HD DVD format and digital downloads through Xbox LIVE Marketplace - both of which have a selection of the best content Hollywood has to offer. Today's announcements around '300' and 'Heroes: Season 1' are great examples of how we believe HD content can be offered to consumers."

This is the perfect time to jump in on this offer, since in only a few days the second and third greatest movies of all time, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, will be hitting store shelves, with all the high definition gore and gunplay exclusive to HD-DVD.

The transition from E3 '06 to E3 '07 was a jarring one, with the size downgrade being only the most obvious change.  The central hangar where the E3 show floor was held was supplemented by several hotels where exhibitors demonstrated their biggest titles behind closed doors, all but defeating the point of having a smaller, press-only event in the first place.  Additionally, press meeting rooms would be used, cleared out, rebuilt in about 15 minutes or so, and then everyone would troop back in.  A smaller, more exclusive E3 isn't that bad an idea, but a less effective one doesn't help anybody.  So, onwards with the evolution.

Now that everyone has come home, a survey has been sent around indicating the possibility of more changes for next year.  A few tweaks to efficiency are a given, of course, but bigger differences are also being discussed.  It's pretty obvious that the E3 organizers are aware of the problems, as indicated by questions about Barker Hanger and the Fairmont Hotel, which were farthest away from the hotels where events were scheduled.  Also up for the possibility of change is the date, with options being discussed for May through August.  The most surprising change for regular E3 attendees is a potential move from LA, though, to San Francisco, Laguna Beach, Sand Diego, or Santa Monica.  Or maybe E3 will stay put in its home city.  Who knows at this point?  The only thing definite is that more changes are coming.